Normal or Something Like It
by knobblyfruit
Summary: [oneshot] My idea at where the heck Wally was during Season 3 or the first season of JLU, if you want. Rated for one minor swear word. R&R!


A/N: This takes place just before 'Initiation' and then to the point where Flash comes back (I don't recall what episode that was). Don't ask me why I was suddenly struck with inspiration to write a fic about Season 3/before Season 3 when it's about to start on Season 5. My mind works in mysterious ways, I guess. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: No, I don't own them. Sadly.

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At first he had felt selfish for wanting a break. 

Even superheroes needed time off. And maybe some people (:cough:Batman:cough:) could go a very, very long time without any.

But Wally was type of person who wanted to get away from the screams of innocent people in danger, no matter how much he wanted to save them at the same time.

Sometimes, he wondered what it would be like to just be another, normal college student up at CCU. Long nights of studying…unless it was the weekend. Then there would surely be girls involved.

But he wasn't a college student (even though Iris had said that's what his mother would have wanted). He was a just a regular guy with a barely-better-than-minimum wage job. Well, regular except for the whole "Fastest Man Alive" thing.

Life _did_ suck sometimes.

Anyway, normal wasn't a word that was usually in Wally's vocabulary, considering the people he regularly hung out with. Some that weren't even actually people, but aliens from planets he had never heard of until meeting them.

Not that that bothers him or anything. He thinks meeting new people is great, people with superpowers superior to his own. So much so that he sometimes has these moments of insecurity when he wondered why J'onn had summoned him to help in the beginning instead of one of them.

He knows more of them are going to come. The expanding of the Justice League had hardly even started. Batman and Superman were taking care of most of it. Diana and J'onn took care of the rest because, even though it was never said, they didn't have anywhere else to go or anything else to do.

Their temporary headquarters was just some old building in Metropolis that Bruce Wayne kindly fixed up a bit for them. Batman said they wouldn't be there long, but long enough. He wasn't sure when the Watchtower would be finished.

The new place was so much smaller than the Watchtower that Wally felt claustrophobic. Especially in the so-called conference room when all seven of them were in it.

_**SIX**_

Wally was never going to get used to that. The number six was going to be an unlucky number; he could feel it.

But, anyway, his break…

He didn't know what he'd do if he took one. Maybe put in more hours in at work. And maybe, just _maybe_, he'd get his rent paid on time this month. Then again, it would be nice to just sit there, watching TV, and not have to worry whether or not he left his communicator on or not. Or whether the things on the news are telling him to get his butt up to the Watchtower, because they need him.

And that brings him back to the whole selfish thing, because he was sure Superman (or Bats, if he would take it, or even GL) could use the break more than him. He laughed to himself picturing Batman lying on beach somewhere with the mask still on, a margarita in one hand and a bottle of sun tan lotion in the other.

There was a meeting today (in the before mentioned conference room). He wanted to pitch his little idea then, but he could imagine the looks he'd get. They'd possibly think he was kidding and start to laugh. Which he didn't want because then he'd probably lose his nerve, laugh with them, and sit back down.

J'onn would probably know the truth. He always does.

He arrived at the temporary headquarters about twenty minutes before the meeting. He wandered around for a little bit, not actually running because there was no room for it. He saw Supergirl and someone else he didn't recognize talking in the lounge room.

Only four minutes had passed since he arrived so he just went into the conference room. He was surprised to find Batman and Superman already there, looking at a paper Bats was holding. They looked up as he entered.

"Sorry, I'll just come back when it starts…"

Superman shook his head. "No, that's alright, Flash. We weren't talking about anything that you shouldn't hear."

Wally thought about asking what it was, but figured he'd hear about it during the meeting and it probably wasn't something his brain could comprehend twice. He sat down at his designated chair. "So, how many people are gonna be joining?"

Superman leaned back in his seat. "Nearly 60 have applied. We expect more will come to the big meeting when the Watchtower is completed."

Wally nodded. Wow, over 60? He hadn't expected that many. Maybe half that much, but not sixty. So, maybe he would be able to take a little break…

"Do you think you could find someone to cover for me?" The words were out of his mouth before he knew he was going to say them. He sighed inwardly, tired of his mouth running ahead of his brain. He'd like his whole body to go _one_ speed, thank you very much.

Batman finally looked up from his paper. "Cover for you?"

He wanted to bang his head on the metal table. Hard. Oh, well, there was no getting out of it now. "I was just thinking of…maybe…taking a little…break. Kind of." He was talking to the table.

"A break?" Batman didn't sound surprised (but he didn't ever sound like much of anything). Superman, on the other hand, had look on his face like he totally didn't see that coming.

Wally was slightly nervous, for some reason. He went into babble-mode when he was nervous. "Well, yeah, cuz all these new guys are coming in, so you probably won't need me as much and I could start working more and make some more money and maybe do some other stuff I've been wanting to try and…" He trailed off, not really knowing where he was going with this.

Superman's surprised look changed into a one of understanding. "Well, I can understand that."

Batman frowned slightly. "No one else has speed as their specialty."

Wally felt like a 16 year old trying to convince his parents to let him take the car out to a party. It was slightly disturbing.

No, it was very disturbing.

"Not a long one…just for a little while. I'm not going to leave. I don't want to leave." He finally managed to look up at them.

There was silence for a few moments that felt like a few years, in which Wally fidgeted uncomfortably. Then Superman spoke up. "Well, Flash, we –"

"I have a better idea," Batman interrupted.

Wally hesitated, almost afraid at what Bats would consider a "better" idea. "Uh-huh, and what would that be?"

"The Watchtower will be finished by the end of next week. Most of the civilian posts have been filled. But I have one you might be interested in."

A job? Up here? That was…different. "What kind of post?" He wasn't sure if this was going to be some weird Bat-joke or something.

"Head Mechanic."

"Mechanic?" Wally echoed. Sure, that was what he already did for a living and he really enjoyed it…except for his boss, and he didn't really care for his co-workers. But as far as he knew, there wasn't a need for cars in space. Yet. "What would I have to do?"

"You'd be responsible for performing overhaul, repair, replacement and maintenance tasks(1) on all the vehicles. You would also supervise 15 other mechanics, among other things."

"You mean I'd be the boss? Sweet."

Superman smiled. "You'd even get a yearly salary and full benefits."

Wally's eyes widened. "A _salary_? Wow."

"You'd have to be trained some more. These things aren't like the cars you're used to, but you can do it. What do you say?"

His mouth opened to immediately say he would, but for once his brain was going at the same speed and it snapped shut. "It sounds great and everything, but I don't want to live up there."

"The civilians won't be living up here. You can come back to Earth whenever you want, as long as someone is covering for you. And it doesn't have to be permanent. Just as long as you want to."

Wally was deep in thought for a minute or two. "So…no one will know about this, right?"

"Only us six," Batman replied.

It might be kind of fun to be just…be normal. Bats had probably been looking for just the right person to take care of his precious vehicles. Wally was kind of…touched…that Batman would trust him to do it and do it right. He didn't want to let him down.

Then the door opened and Diana walked into the room. She stopped suddenly when she realized they were looking at her. "Am I interrupting something?"

Wally laughed, though there was nothing truly funny about it. "Nope, Princess, you didn't interrupt a thing."

000000000000000

It had taken Wally a surprisingly short amount of time to learn what he needed to learn. When it came to cars (or whatever they were), he was always a quick learner. Why that couldn't apply to anything else he did, he didn't know. But, here he was, almost seven months later, finally content in having the best of both the civilian world and the superhero world. He got paid decently, and had weekends off. He even still made appearances as Flash, at meetings and such.

"Hey, Wally!"

He turned from the Javelin he had been inspecting towards the voice. Ella Turner was jogging over to him. Ella was Wally's second-in-command and not just because she was incredibly pretty and had a faint, but cute southern accent. She was also one hell of a mechanic. "What's up, El?"

"I don't know what happened, but there are five shuttles(2) coming in that need to be fixed ASAP."

Wally frowned, wiping his greasy hands on his even greasier overalls. "Why wasn't I told this before?"

Ella smiled. "You were in the bathroom."

"Oh, yeah. Well, let's get everybody where they're supposed to be."

And then there was no room for random conversation in all the chaos, just the occasional order or direction.

In just under three hours, all five shuttles were repaired _and_ washed. Wally couldn't help but be proud. He would have liked to order 50 pizzas and a few kegs of beer to celebrate, but he was pretty sure Domino's didn't deliver quite that far. And alcohol had been banned from the Watchtower after Superman had caught Supergirl with a beer. Which Wally thought was quite unfair, but whatever.

Instead, he let them have a break in the lounge room, though most of them had already taken their break. They deserved it.

"You comin' or what?" Ella called to him from the doorway. Everyone else was already gone.

"Nah, I'm gonna put some stuff away," he replied, waving a hand towards the tools scattered everywhere.

"All right, your loss," she said as she left, but she was smiling.

He began picking up things up and putting them in their proper places when another voice came from the doorway.

"Looks like a tornado went through this place." It was Superman.

Wally grinned. "Yeah, that's what happens when you've got almost 20 people fixing five shuttles all at once."

Supes smiled. "You're doing very well, you know. Better than Batman expected, I think. A lot better."

Wally wasn't sure whether to be insulted or not. He decided not to be. He was in too good of a mood for that. "Flattery will get you everywhere," he joked. "What do you want?"

Superman suddenly looked a bit uncomfortable. "Actually, there is something I want, something we all want."

Wally raised his eyebrows. "We?"

"The six of us."

He nodded in understanding. "What is it?"

"Well, we were hoping seven months was a long enough break for you."

Wally was slightly taken aback by that. It was like that, in working "for them, he had completely forgotten he _was_ one of them. "Oh. Any particular reason why?"

Superman smirked. "The League just isn't the same without you."

Wally thought he sensed a bit of sarcasm there, but he suddenly had the urge to run. It wasn't like he hadn't used his speed for seven whole months; it was just that he did it considerably less.

He looked around the large hangar where all the vehicles were kept. He really liked this job, he did. But he'd been away from his real duties long enough.

"I'll go get my suit."

For a second he thought Superman was going to hug him. But he just said, "I'll go tell the others," and left. Wally wouldn't be surprised if he started skipping down the hallway.

Instead of following, Wally glanced around once again. He'd have to recommend that Ella get his job. She'd be good at it.

He stopped in the doorway, turning back as if to say good-bye. Then he just turned away with a wry smile and headed for his quarters.

Oh, well. Normalcy was overrated, anyway.

-END-

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(1) I totally ripped that from some website. I know absolutely nothing about fixing anything.  
(2) I'm only calling them shuttles because I don't know what else to call them. They're just small, compactone or two person space ships. In my mind, anyway. 

NOW REVIEW! Thankies!


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